As written in statute, Cradle-to-Career’s (C2C) Governing Board is intended to reflect California’s cultural, racial, geographical, economic, and social diversity. It is important that C2C’s Boards represent not only the key stakeholders of the California Cradle-to-Career Data System but also the wide range of Californians that we are charged with serving.
In 2022, the Office received a request seeking the demographic information of C2C’s leadership, and following approval from its Governing Board, the Office facilitated the collection of Governing Board demographic information via an anonymous survey, with responses aggregated for purposes of equity and transparency and posted to the Cradle-to-Career website.
The Office committed to conducting a demographic survey annually, and at the Fall 2023 meetings of C2C’s Community Engagement and Data and Tools Advisory Boards, members agreed to expand the survey’s scope to include C2C’s Advisory Boards for 2024.
The 2025 survey was issued on February 6th, and the Office received a:
- 100% response rate from C2C’s Governing Board,
- a 94% response rate from the Data and Tools Advisory Board, with
- an 82% response rate from the Community Engagement Advisory Board.
2025 Survey Results
The 2025 survey asked about race/ethnicity and gender, with an option to share more information about lived experiences that may reflect those of Californians.
Governing Board
This year, Governing Board members were asked to self-report on race/ethnicity and gender, and ten respondents identified as female and nine as male.
In terms of breakdown by race and ethnicity, three members identified as Asian or Asian American; two members identified as Black or African American; and three identified as Latina/o, including Mexican American. Additionally, one member identified as Middle Eastern (including Armenian), one member identified as multiracial/multiethnic (including Black and Asian), and eleven members identified as white or Caucasian.
Members were asked to volunteer information about their lived experiences in 2025, as C2C’s boards represent the key stakeholders of the data system and the wide range of Californians that Cradle-to-Career is charged with serving.
For 2024-25, over half of respondents identified as a first-generation college student, with nearly half (nine members total) sharing that they came from a low-income background. Four Board members identified as immigrants, with eight members identifying as bilingual. Five respondents noted that they provide care for someone in their household, with four members stating that they didn’t identify as any of the named categories.
We also asked members to volunteer additional information about their lived experiences, and some members shared that they identified as LGBTQ+, were single mothers, or a woman in STEM.
Data and Tools Advisory Board
Data and Tools Advisory Board members self-reported race/ethnicity and gender, and this year, nine Data and Tools respondents identified as female or women, five as male, and one as gender non-conforming.
In terms of breakdown by race and ethnicity, three members identified as Asian/Asian American, one member identified as Black, one as Eastern European, two as Latinx/Mexican, with nine members identifying as White/Caucasian, including White Jewish.
In 2024-25, over half of respondents from the Data and Tools Advisory Board identified as a first-generation college student, and half also shared that they came from a low-income background. Three Advisory Board members identified as immigrants, with six members identifying as bilingual. Three respondents noted that they are living with a disability. Three members note they provide care for someone in their household, with three members stating that they didn’t identify as any of the named categories.
We also asked members to volunteer additional information about their lived experiences, and some members shared that they were children of refugees, while others noted they came from a mixed immigration status household. Other members shared that they were children of teen parents, or from a single parent household.
Community Engagement Advisory Board
Community Engagement Advisory Board members self-reported race/ethnicity and gender; this year, nine respondents identified as female, and four as male.
In terms of breakdown by race and ethnicity, three members identified as Asian/Asian American, including Japanese American and Chinese Mexican, one member identified as African American, with six members identifying as Latina/o, including Latinx, Hispanic, and Indigenous Mexican. Three members identified as White.
In 2024-25, the majority of respondents identified as a first-generation college student, which was also true for those who identified that they came from a low-income background. Three Advisory Board members identified as immigrants, with seven members identifying as bilingual. Three members note they provide care for someone in their household, with two members stating that they didn’t identify as any of the named categories.
In terms of additional information about lived experiences, some members shared that they came from a migrant family, while others self-identified as a Father, Son, Husband, and Student.
A note on the data: All responses were self-reported with no predetermined categories. This year’s responses do not include individuals who identified as Middle Eastern, multiracial/multiethnic, nor as Native American/Indigenous with no members identifying as such, but that information is included in the full board’s results.